You Are My Destiny: That Is Why I Love You
by Shaman Princess Kyouyama
Summary: Ren and love don't always go together. Or do they? Ren is in the midst of a puzzling situation when he begins to realize feelings for a very unexpected girl. RenxOCxHorohoro, YohxAnna, HaoxTamao, and more. Summary: Ren falls in love with a blind girl...
1. Love Me, Last Time

Hail, beloved readers!

Pretty good, huh? -wink- Ren falling in love with a blind girl... not something you see everyday.

Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King! At least, that's what I think.

Review, review, review! I probably sound like your grammar teacher there, but seriously, I love reviews more than... wait, I can't say sushi because that's not true... Ah, well!

The story is called "Ah!" for a reason you shall find out soon, my dear reader! Enjoy!

PS. The song is Easy Target, by Blink 182. I eliminated most of the lyrics as they had nothing to do with the plot. The lyrics are in bold and italicized. The "Kiss me"'s aren't a song, just a babble I added.

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Li Mei fell to her knees, her hands trembling with the pain of lost love.

"You wouldn't... Chi, you couldn't... you love me too much..."

"You love me, you love me, YOU LOVE ME! YOU WOULDN'T DO THIS TO ME! YOU SWORE ON YOUR MOTHER'S GRAVE, YOU SWORE, THAT WE WOULD BE TOGETHER ETERNALLY! I LOVED YOU! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME... how... could you... Ah!"

Her pale, ghost-like features stuck out sharply in the moonless night. Beside her lay a letter, wrapped in pink ribbon with a rose attached, obviously disguised as a love letter at first sight. Li Mei gasped as a sharp pain made her temporarily stop breathing. She looked up.

"Hello, Li Mei."

_**Holli's looking dry, looking for an easy target...**_

A man had grabbed Li Mei by the collar and lifted her to his piercing eyes. Li Mei winced as his sharp fingernails dug into her collarbone, her skinny body dangling at Chi's waist level. Li Mei moaned.

_Kiss me, kiss me... one last time..._

_**Let her slit my throat, give her ammo if she'll use it...**_

The man's hands ran in a straight line down the beauty's back. "What's the matter, Li Mei? You act as if your boyfriend just ditched you for... oh, iono, a more _intelligent, beautiful, gorgeous, graceful _woman?"

_One last time... kiss me, kiss me on my lips, on my neck, down my chest, down, down, down..._

Li Mei shivered and writhed in Chi's claw-like grip. "Kiss me Chi, one last time."

**_She's got a mission and I'm collateral damage..._**

**_(That's what she wanted...)_**

**_Holli's looking dry..._**

Chi smirked maliciously. "Plaything." He caught her lips in a juicy frenzy, both of them shaking and sweating heavily. "Mmmm... you taste good, plaything." Li Mei winced and ran her fingers down Chi's spine. "Ahhh..." The pleasure ended too soon. Chi dropped Li Mei into the grass below and stomped off. Li Mei touched her lips and took her last glance at the man she once loved, her eyes watering. Then she fainted.

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Tao Ren was in a bad mood today. It was raining, no, hailing, and he had no umbrella. Plus, they had P.E. And everyone at Funbari High knew this:

Rain. Plus P.E. Equals two long hours of learning how to dance.

Ren moaned.

An umbrella appeared over his head. "Baka mirages..." But the umbrella was real - and when Ren looked over his shoulder to see who held it, he couldn't keep back a smile.

"Yo!" Asakura Yoh raised his hand in his trademark greeting.

"Ahh... hi, Yoh!" Ren raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing here?"

Yoh smirked evilly. "Oh, me? I was walking by when I saw you and I was like, 'Awww, poor Wenny's all awone in the wain.' And then I decided to take advantage of my generous self and come over."

**_Slap!_**

"Aw, phooey, you slap like Anna!" A wincing Yoh rubbed his sore cheek. "You want more?" He shook his head furiously. "Good, because I plan on saving all my energy on Baka Ainu today." Ren laughed maliciously, much to the amusement of a sighing Yoh.

"It's hailing, which means two hours of dance lessons. Plus, we have double history, and lunch today is that unrecognizable mass of purple we were trying to identify last week. How much worse could it get?"

"Wow Yoh, it's not like you to be so pessimistic. Well, Hao could return, or Japan could be bombed, or someone could kidnap us and ship us in a box to Malaysia... But other than that, not much." The Tao groaned. "Feh! I hate dance classes. Especially since we dance with girls."

The two companions sighed. Nearby, a group of Ren-stalkers giggled in their preppy manner. "I don't know how you do it, Ren. They're all over you, all the time. I wish I were you. (At hearing this, Ren blushed) You're smart, athletic, fit, and really, really sexy."

**_Kaboom-kapowey-slap!_**

The Asakura writhed in pain on the floor. "Ow... next time don't do it so hard..." Ren cracked his knuckles slowly. "You know, that sounded pervertedly wrong..."

The Chinese girl-magnet and Japan's ultimate sleeper continued to stroll towards the building of Doom, one in a limp, the other in a strut. They had reached their destination. "Funbari High School", said the sign in bright red letters before them. Making their way towards their homeroom, they entered the door and shut it behind them. Twenty-five heads looked up. "I still can't get used to the fact that we have a class of twenty-seven," muttered a disgruntled Ren. "Or the fact that Jun-kun is the teacher..."

"Hello Yoh! Hello, _Renny!_" A smiling Jun waved. "Little Miss Sunshine..." Ren lowered his head to conceal the blush on his face, and took his seat next to Yoh, who was sniggering profusely.

"Right then. Now that everyone's here, let's take attendance!" Jun seemed to realize the stupidity of her words as a bright red patch appeared on both of her cheeks. "Or, we could go straight to lessons!" The class groaned. They were, however, soon to be saved.

_Rap, rap! _A knock at the door... The eager adolesecents shifted their attention to the opening door, eyes bright like eager children.

_Squeeeeaaaakk! _Someone coming in... The boys gasped, and the girls slumped to the floor.

_Click, clack! _The sound of boots and slippers on the floor. Pale pink stilettos... weren't those against the dress code?

"AYIII! I LIKE HER!" The boys had found their dream come true.

A deathly silence hovered around the room.

A girl and her father had entered the classroom.

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So... what'cha think? Is it horrible? And hint-hint: You probably already know who the girl is! I want to center this story around a Ren-OC, but I will be adding a Horohoro-OC and Yoh-Anna, along with other common pair-ups. Keep checking back on this story! And please, please, REVIEW! It makes me feel so bad when I only have one review... -puts on best puppy eyes- Arigatou! SHAMAN KING OWNS! HIGH FIVE!


	2. Renewal

A shower of whispers scattered the room.

"Man, she is g-o-o-rgeo-us," whispered Horohoro, in the state of a trance. The man glared at him, causing him to shrink timidly into his seat and wish he could disappear forever. "Too bad," replied Yoh to Horohoro, "Cause I get first grabs." An uproar issued, surrounding an unconcerned Ren. He was too busy observing the girl to take part in Horohoro and Yoh's stupid fights. There was something strange about the girl, something that created an uneasy atmosphere around her. Then it hit him.

The girl was blind.

She was playing with her fingers, head towards the floor with her eyes in a dark shadow. Everyone was too busy obsessing over her looks to notice the way she would stare blankly at an empty wall, then back to the floor again, staring through them as if they didn't exist. The Tao smirked. His lack of interest in girls' looks had finally paid off. Now, to tell the rest of the world...

Ren Tao took a good look at her. Shit damn, she was beautiful all right. Her silky long hair had been combed into a messy bun, which complimented her sparkling black-blue eyes perfectly. Not to mention her perfectly carved body, arched slightly at the chest and thin at the waist. Every girl's dream body. With a slight 'hmph', Ren looked back to his vocabulary book. _'I'll never fall in love, not for all the milk in China.' _He folded his arms and stared blank-faced at the definition of the word 'stubborn' in front of him.

stubborn (adj) - unreasonably or perversely unyielding

Ren raised his eyebrows and slammed the book shut.

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_20 minutes later..._

A frantic Jun, finally able to get the class in control amongst piles of paper wads and broken pencils, screamed at the top of her lungs.

"SHUUUUUUUUUUUT UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUP!"

Horohoro froze midway from being about to stab his pencil into Yoh's thigh. Yoh stopped halfway from lodging a sticky-looking wad of paper mache in Lyserg's hair, and several other students were either engaged in fights with the girls, or were involved in the paper wad fight as well. Jun looked on the verge of tears.

"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!" She broke out crying and went to her desk, sinking down into her chair and sobbing into her arms. Ren was shocked.

_'You're not supposed to cry... you're my sister... you're a Tao!'_

Horohoro was silent as he went over to comfort Jun. Sure, she was the teacher, but she was still a friend. The rest of the class, heads down in shame, began to pick up after themselves. The blind girl kept her head down, eyes in shadow, and did nothing. Her father had left already, leaving the girl in care of the teacher. He somewhat reminded Ren of his own father - uninvolved, leaving everything to someone else.

Jun had recovered from her state of depression and began helping everyone pick up. Ren, flushed from the recent experience with his sister, simply sat in his seat and did nothing. He didn't have anything to do with angering Jun, and therefore would have nothing to do with helping the other students pick up. Instead, he took to watching the blind girl again.

She had been making her hair. After untying the ten, twenty ribbons that had wound their way around her tangled up arms, her hair was let down with a soft _whoosh_. Horohoro began blushing profusely. She brought her hair up in a double loop, then tied it up again with her ribbons in the exact same way. _'Well, that was pointless,' _thought Ren.

She did this over and over again, achieving the same results each time, until Ren could take it no longer. "Why don't you quit doing that?" She sure was strange. Shaking her head frantically to try and find the source of the voice, she gave up and replied, to no one in particular, "Because I have nothing better to do. Because I don't want to be here. Because this school is filled with bitches and bastards, that's why. To think you would have the nerve to do that to your teacher is... shameful." Ren was unmoved. "Whatever." The girl winced and went half-heartedly back to doing her hair.

By now the class had finished picking up. "Miss Jun," they sang out, "we're do-oo-one!" Little Miss Sunshine smiled her happy grin and turned her attention back to the girl in front. "I'm sorry..." mumbled Jun. "They get out of control a lot... you must think horribly of us, don't you?" The girl was silent. Jun mumbled again. "Why don't you tell everyone about yourself?"

_'This is really stupid... why am I even here? Why can't I go back to China?... And the people here are seriously out of control! God, why can't they shyuuut up!' _thought the girl. "Ok, well... uh...lesee... My name is Li Mei, I come from Chinaaaaa... uuuh... aaah... I like strawberry shortcake? Iono..." Several of the girls giggled. Li Mei glared at the floor and continued. "Um, well, I'm fifteen, and I'm living with my father on Funbari Hill. We're only here for a little while, until my dad gets some business sorted out here with his realtor, and then we're moving back to China." A disappointed sigh was let out by Horohoro. "So... yeah. Any questions?"

"Yeah." Ren raised his hand. "What...? Oh, you again. Yes... what is it?" Li Mei sighed.

"Are you blind?"

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Li Mei was paralyzed. _'That bastard, fucking bastard you, saying it straight out like that! Don't you care... how would you feel if you were blind?'_

Soft murmurs could be heard around the classroom.

"Well? Are you? Cause it's not like we'll disrespect you or anything if you are..." This time it was Yoh speaking.

"So what if I am? OK, then, I am. Now what are you going to do?" She was furious, outraged.

"Nothing, really, unless you want us to." Horohoro whispered quietly.

Li Mei lifted her head to reveal shock. _'They... don't care? It doesn't matter to them... They won't discriminate me?'_ Tears filled her eyes. "Thank you."

Jun grabbed Li Mei's arm and dragged her to her seat. "There. Sit. Good girl. Now then, let's all help Li Mei however we can, ok?" She ruffled her hair. "She's counting on you."

Li Mei was sitting next to Ren, with Horohoro on the left and behind Yoh, in front of Lyserg. All four of them stared at her: one with pure admiration, one with care and friendship, one with curiosity, and one with... a Ren-stare. You know, the one that's completely emotionless. Li Mei was slightly intimidated. She resumed to doing her hair absentmindedly with one hand while the other traced the outline of the words 'Pre-Calculus' on her newly purchased schoolbook. Li Mei sighed happily. She loved math.

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	3. Of PDP, TDME, And Ouija Boards

Konnichiwa, dear readers! It's been a while... -salute- Sorry about my (aherm) lack of updating. My parents believe that summer vacation was created for students to catch up with their schoolwork, and have been buying all my eighth grade textbooks on Ebay so I can read 'em all ahead of time. I know, morbid...Please, READ AND REVIEW! ARIGATOU, SHAMAN KING FANS! HIGH FIVE! Now, ON WITH THE SHOW! -throws popcorn at screen-

* * *

Samurai.luvz.sword has logged on. 

Samurai.luvz.sword: Hello? Hello? Hi me!

Samurai.luvz.sword: Hello, me! What are you doing?

Samurai.luvz.sword: Talking to myself and waiting for Yoh to come home from school! And Ren, and Horohoro, of course.

Samurai.luvz.sword: Same here! Ever since Yoh got me this fascinating Instant Messaging, I have been talking to myself all day!

Samurai.luvz.sword: Anna is at her all-girls school, and she has left me with a whole list of chores.

Samurai.luvz.sword: Ah, Amidamaru. I feel pity for you.

Samurai.luvz.sword: Yes, well, it gets boring talking to oneself all day.

Samurai.luvz.sword: Ah, I understand your pain.

Samurai.luvz.sword: Well, yes, after all, you ARE me.

Samurai.luvz.sword: Am I you being me, or you being you? Because if I were you being you, then I wouldn't be me.

Samurai.luvz.sword: Good point...

_-Sound of doorbell-_

Samurai.luvz.sword: That would be Yoh-dono! I'm afraid I must go.

Samurai.luvz.sword: Sayonara, me!

_Samurai.luvz.sword has logged off._

Amidamaru logged off his AIM account and floated over to the door. "Why, hello Yoh!" he said cheerfully, opening the door. What met his eyes made his non-existant heart stop.

"Hao," he whispered under his breath.

"Correct, Amidamaru."

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_Meanwhile, back at Funbari High..._

Ren stared at Li Mei. "Finally," he whispered under his breath. "Someone who does as well in math as I do." He smirked and glanced again at the girl, who was busy dictating the properties of the number 0 to a clearly confused Miss Tao.

"That's wonderful, Li Mei! Who knew the number zero was so... fascinating!" Jun tried her happy smile again and hoped for the best.

"Thank you." Li Mei blushed and went back to, or at least attempted to, find her seat. The seat she sat in instead was Horohoro's.

"O-oh! I'm so sorry!" Li Mei blushed again, this time redder than normal, and got up quickly. Horohoro decided to use this opportunity to his advantage.

"That's ok. In fact, I'll lead you back to your seat." He grabbed her hand and, turning a shade of scarlet-pink, performed the said task.

_'Hmm... I guess the people here aren't so bad after all. But then again, that's just the boys. The girls might not be so... kind.' _Li Mei straightened out her skirt and lifted one pink-stiletto-ed foot over the other. She sighed. _'This is going to be a looong day.'_

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Finally, after hours of agonizing brainwashing, the lunch bell rang. Yoh woke up from his slumber only to be met with Horohoro's face, noticing with an uncomfortable expression that Horohoro's face was very close to his own. Horohoro blushed and said, "It's lunchtime, Yoh!"

The four friends, Ren, Lyserg, Yoh, and Horohoro walked quietly to the cafeteria. They had, no doubt about it, been affected by the Li Mei incident. _'Ah well, I guess we shouldn't worry so much about her.' _they all thought. Horohoro immediately began pigging out on a greasy-looking cheeseburger, while Yoh and Lyserg sipped happily on orange juice. Ren was moving his fork around some salad, obviously thinking about how he was going to kill Horo for his boorish slobbering. Chocolove joined them later, for he was in a different homeroom with Tamao. They all began conversing about how Pokemon Diamond Pearl had just come out (I know, stupid). Ren smirked and said he had already bought both games, to the amused looks of Yoh and Lyserg. Horohoro choked on his cheeseburger and stared at him, big-eyed.

"Man, you are hella rich!" Ren just smirked.

"Not really." said Yoh. "I've bought them as well! Behind Anna's back, of course."

"Yeah," added Lyserg, "same here."

Horohoro glumly looked at the remains of his fries and sighed. It didn't help that Tamao and Chocolove had bought PDP as well.

"I've already caught a Regice!" Tamao looked ecstatic.

"Oh yeah? Baka onna, I have a Deoxys!" Ren was not to be outdone.

"Well I have a Pokemon that can outdo ALL of yours put together!" Chocolove had risen from his head and pounded his hand on the table.

"What?"

"JIGGLYPUFF!"

"BAKA BASTARD!" And the chase began...

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Amidamaru's hand remained frozen on the doorknob.

"Hao." He whispered again.

Asakura Hao rolled his eyes. "How many times are you going to say that? Aren't you gonna invite me in?" He smirked at Amidamaru's petrified expression. "I'm in the mood for green tea." Hao pushed himself in and, to Amidamaru's amazement, began the said task. He watched as Hao commanded his Spirit of Fire to light the stove, then produced a packet of green tea out of midair and soaked it in boiling water.

The doorbell just _had_ to ring at that moment.

Hao paused. "That would be Anna. The air reeks of her itako powers."

Amidamaru winced and once more made the dreadful journey towards the doorknob. Just as he was about to open the door, vibrations from Anna's booming voice shook the room.

"OY! OPEN UP IN THERE OR I'LL BREAK DOWN THE DOOR!"

Amidamaru looked between Anna and Hao and decided that Anna was a more deathly risk. (No, really.) He courteously opened the door for her and let her in. Anna pounded several times with her feet on the doorstep to remove the dirt from her bathroom sandals, and marched inside. Casually passing the kitchen, she took a glance inside and continued walking. Hao smirked.

"HURRY UP WITH THAT TEA, YOH! AND IT BETTER BE GREEN!"

Apparently Anna had not realized that it was Hao, not Yoh, in the kitchen.

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"HOW IS A JIGGLYPUFF SUPPOSED TO BEAT MY DEOXYS?"

"IT SINGS IT TO SLEEP AND DRAWS OVER IT WITH MARKER!"

"AND SHARPIE WILL KILL MY DEOXYS, HOW?"

"Aherm."

Chocolove and Ren looked up to the stern face of a lunchlady. Blushing a deep shade of red, both rivals sat down and resumed eating while Yoh, Lyserg, and Horohoro looked on with bored faces. Tamao had buried herself behind her ouija board again.

Pretty soon Manta came to join them. Seeing their glum faces, he immediately said the first thing that came to his mind. "I know! Let's play TDME!"

-silence-

"What's TDME?" Yoh scratched his head.

"Truth, dare, marriage, electric chair, of course! See so we spin this fork," Manta picked up a fork from his lunchbox, "and whoever the fork points to has to do either a truth question, a dare, choose someone to marry, or choose someone to sit in Anna's electric chair!"

"All right." Ren grinned evilly. "This is a great opportunity for revenge."

"Right!" Manta looked relieved. "So, who wants to go first?" Yoh reached out for the fork and spinned it. It pointed to Horohoro.

"All right, Horo! Truth, dare, marriage, or electric chair?"

"Hmm..." Horohoro considered the safest option. "Truth!"

Yoh smiled maliciously. "Who would you make out with - Chocolove, or Ren?"

Ren choked involuntarily on a granola bar. Chocolove looked as if he had just been knighted.

"Uh... um... Pass?"

"Nope." Manta interfered. "If you pass this question, you have to do a marriage question."

"All right then... ah.. um.. WAAAH! REN, OK?" Horohoro began sobbing anime-style. Ren turned a shade somewhere between purple and red, and Tamao held up her ouija board victoriously.

"Hey guys! It says here that sometime in the near future, Ren and Horohoro will make out!" Tamao giggled.

"Well then, let's make that moment come true as soon as possible." Yoh pushed Ren and Horohoro's heads together, making their lips connect.

"FEH!" Ren spat and pushed himself away from a pouting Horokeu. "PERVERT!"

"YOU'RE THE PERVERT!"

"LOOK WHO'S TALKING!"

"WE'LL SEE ABOUT THAT!"

Horohoro spun the fork, which pointed to Ren. "You're gonna hafta do marriage, cause I said so."

"WHAT? WHY DO I HAVE TO DO MARRIAGE?"

"Because if you don't, you'll suffer in Anna's electric chair." Manta smirked.

"And that's that. So, who will it be? Tamao, Pirika, Sharon, Sally, Lily, Milly, or Elly?" Ainu's #1 villain smiled smugly.

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OO lala, two cliffies! Will Anna finally realize that the figure in the kitchen is, in fact, Hao? Will Ren fall for Tamao's charming personality, or Pirika's adorable facial looks? STAY TUNED TO FIND OUT! And review, or I won't keep writing. The romance is coming, my minions, so keep checking!


	4. It's A Boy 'Thang'

_Dear Yoh, Anna, Ren, Lyserg, Tamao, Horohoro, Chocolove, and Manta,_

_I have been traveling the world since the Shaman King fight was postponed; soon I'll be in Tokyo, and I'll be able to see all of you! I've been to China, Malaysia, India, Egypt, and Florida (don't ask...) in search of my Best Place. I never thought I would travel so far! Mistress Anna, would you be as kind as to let me stay with you and Yoh at the onsen for a while? I will repay my stay by being your cook. Reply to this address, please:_

_8573 Rocianna Avenue_

_Miami, Florida 80075_

_Sincerely,_

_Ryu of the Wooden Sword_

Anna shuffled through the mail and threw out what she didn't need: advertisements, "Have You Seen This Child?" flyers, restaurant menus, etcetera, and came upon a letter from Ryu. She scanned it over briefly and scrawled a quick reply on the back.

_Ryu,_

_Yes, you may stay with us, but we inform you that your cooking standards must be very high, or I will kick you out. Ren, Horohoro, Lyserg, Tamao, and Chocolove are staying with us as well. I charge a rent of 500 yen per day, which is very cheap. _

_- Anna_

Hao strutted into the living room casually with a timid Amidamaru behind him. "Hey, Anna-chan."

"DON'T CALL ME THAT, Y-"

Hao had placed a hand over Anna's mouth to stifle it. She gasped as she realized who it was. "H-H-Hao?"

The Asakura smirked, and replaced his hand with his lips instead. It took Anna a few seconds to fully comprehend what was going on. A few seconds was enough for Hao to enjoy the luxury while it lasted. He trailed his lips to her ear and whispered, "I came back for you."

**_SUPER SECRET SLAP NUMBER 2!_**

Hao smiled cheerfully and rubbed his swollen cheek. _'She tastes... good.' _was the only thought running through his mind.

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"WHAT!"

"Yup. You heard me correctly. Tamao, Pirika, Lily, Sally, Elly, Milly, or Sharona?" Horohoro laughed victoriously. "Ainu's shall always prevail."

Ren mumbled something under his breath. "I'm sorry - what was that?" Horohoro leaned forward with his hand cupped over his ear. Ren looked as if someone had stuck his head under a leaking faucet pipe.

"I said ELLY! ELLY, OK? GO AHEAD! LAUGH!" Ren lifted his head and met Horohoro's face.

"Wow... I never knew you would fall for someone like _her._" Yoh's facial expression was that of shock.

"Ugh... I DON'T LIKE HER!"

"Then why did you say you would marry her?"

"WHAT! I NEVER SAID THAT!"

"Uh huh."

"Unh-un."

"Uh huh."

Ren began poking Yoh with his tongari, while Tamao watched on with a blush.

"All right then, we won't tease you about it _too_ much," said Horohoro, "as long as you let me dare you."

"Fine... anything to get away from the suggestion that I like Elly..."

"Heehee. I dare you to make out with a girl in our class."

"No WAY."

"I am so evil..."

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"Hey Anna, want some green tea?"

"No." Anna handed Hao a broom. "Get scrubbing."

Hao looked at Anna with a puzzled expression and grinned his lazy smile. "I'm sorry Anna, but I'm afraid I can't do that."

Anna was petrified.

NO ONE defied the Ice Queen.

Hao grinned again. "Why don't we go take a na- who's this?"

Anna whipped around and saw Tamao entering the room. "Tamao! Aren't you supposed to be at school?"

The pink-haired crybaby shuffled her feet and looked at the floor. "Um... Anna, school was dismissed fifteen minutes ago."

"If that's so, then where's Yoh and the others?"

"They said they'd be out somewhere... then come back later. They said it was one of those 'boy things.'"

Anna frowned suspiciously. "Boy things, huh?"

"Yes, Anna-san..."

Hao looked at the two women with a perverted smile. _'Another lady in the house, ne? This should be fun!' _He bowed low before a shocked Tamao and kissed her hand.

**_BOOM-KAPOWEY-BAM!_**

Tamao looked down at Hao. "No one does that to Tamao-san," said Anna. Tamao flashed a look of pure gratitude to a very, very smug Anna.

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"Boy things", huh? You'll find out in the next chapter! And what will it be like when Ryu comes over? STAY TUNED TO FIND OUT! I made this chapter short because I didn't have time to write a long one without receiving fifty complaints for the next chapter. XD


	5. Mission Horohoro

"Are you sure this is ok?" Nervous little Manta had backed out of the plan at first, saying it was immoral and could mentally unstabilize Ren... but in the end, Manta's dark side took over.

"Of course it's ok! Look, I'm almost done." Horohoro finished scrawling a note on a Post-It and hurriedly tucked it into his pocket. "Now let's hurry, before Ren comes out of the bathroom."

Yoh giggled and followed Horohoro, accompanied by Chocolove and Lyserg. They stealthily sneaked into their homeroom, enjoying the experience of playing "spy."

"Banana Comedian, Banana Comedian, are you there? Over." Horohoro whispered into an imaginary walkie-talkie.

"Earth to Snowboarding Pig, earth to Snowboarding Pig. Over."

"BANANA COMEDIAN! WHY ARE YOU DRESSED IN A NINJA SUIT? YOU KNOW IT'S AGAINST DRESS CODE!"

"SHUT UP! WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE QUIET, REMEMBER! OVER!"

"Earth to Couch Potato, earth to Couch Potato. Over." Manta rolled his eyes. Imaginary walkie-talkies... why not just use the real, high-tech ones in Manta's backpack?

-Trademark James Bond theme song begins to play-

"Earth to Little Man. Has British Boy gathered the supplies yet? Over," Yoh whispered excitedly into another imaginary walkie-talkie.

"Positive, Couch Potato. Now, would you SHUT OFF THAT JAMES BOND MUSIC?! Over."

"Right, Little Man. Signal British Boy to resume Mission Horohoro-gets-his-revenge-on-Ren and start Phase D. Over."

"Ok, Couch Potato. By the way, what does D in Phase D stand for?"

"Destroy, Little Man, Destroy." Yoh laughed his evil laugh.

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"It's a 'boy 'thang''?!" Anna rolled her eyes. "Sounds stupid."

"They called it, Mission Horohoro-gets-his-revenge-on-Ren, or something like that."

"Whatever. So long as it doesn't cost me any money."

Tamao fidgeted nervously. "I wonder what they're up to..."

"Did anything happen today that might tell you what they're doing now?"

"Well, we DID have a huge argument about Chocolove's Pokemon... and Horohoro DID dare Ren to kiss a girl in his class... So, I really don't know."

Anna looked to the right where she had locked Hao up in the closet. "Having fun?"

"Oh, yes. It's so much fun to watch one pretty girl, but even more fun to watch two pretty girls talking with each other!" Hao gave Anna his perverted smile again.

Residents of Tokyo could swear they felt an earthquake 50 miles away from Funbari Inn that day.

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Ren emerged from the restroom and looked around. "Those bastards, they ditched me," he muttered, punching his hand into the wall.

"Hey, Ren."

Ren whipped around to see a shy-looking Sakura waving at him, a blush on her face. Ren turned completely red. He swore he saw a streak of blue at the window next to him, but eventually shoved it off his mind and looked back at Sakura.

"I... um... I got your message, and I just wanted to say..."

_'Message? What message? I never sent Sakura any messages... --'_

"THANK YOU!" Sakura jumped onto Ren and flung her arms around him. At this point Ren resembled something like a tomato.

_'Good thing no one's hear to watch me... Enjoy the fun while it lasts, Ren!_' A little voice whispered in Ren's head.

"Um... you're welcome... I think." Ren pried Sakura off of him and blushed again. Sakura took note of this and mentally grinned.

Then, to Ren's shock, she pressed her lips against Ren's.

All Ren could think about was Sakura, Sakura, Sakura, as her caramel-blond bangs brushed against her cheek. Ren returned the kiss gratefully. Nearly no one knew of Ren's secret crush on Sakura. Or so he thought.

**"BOOM WOW WHOO WHOO!"**

Ren quickly got off Sakura and turned around, facing a laughing Horohoro, an amused Manta, a grinning Lyserg, a ninja-suited Chocolove, and a sleeping Yoh.

**"YOU BASTARDS!"**

Ren brought out his Kwan Dao (Horohoro: Wow, he takes that thing to school?) and ran around the whole campus chasing a video camera-clutching Horohoro. Faint cries of "COME BACK HERE!" and "YOU BASTARD!" could be heard across the hall. Horohoro brought out a Post-It and showed it to Ren, who simply fumed.

Dearest Sakura,

After spending three years with you, I've never gotten the chance to tell you how I feel about you... I've always liked you, Sakura. You're beautiful, strong, logical, smart, and simply wonderful. I've been wondering... how do you feel about me?

Love,

Tao Ren

It was said later that day that several high school students could barely see the dim figure of a blue-haired boy with a broken, bleeding leg, running as fast as he could home.

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	6. Akiko Makes Her Presence

This chapter is dedicated to Lilythemarshmallowqueen and PandaYumi7 for constantly reviewing! Reviewing makes me HAPPY! And if you were waiting for Li Mei (which means 'pretty rose', I think), here she is!

* * *

Li Mei sighed and hugged her knees. School was such a bore. The boys were stupid, the girls were preppy and squeamish, and it seemed to her as she was the only one in the class who had a straight 4.0 GPA. There was, of course, that other kid. What was his name? Yes. Tao Ren. He wasn't that bad, or so Li Mei thought. 

The girls were awful. They took to tripping Li Mei in the hallway, making snide comments about "stealing their boyfriends" or whatever. Li Mei hadn't seen a boy in years, ever since that awful incident with... Chi.

Flashback

_"Go fix your room, Li Mei. We have guests coming over today."_

_"But Ma-ma..."_

_"No 'buts', Li Mei." _

_"Fine..."_

_Li Mei entered her room and flopped onto a pillow, moaning. Her room was perfectly clean, it always had been. Li Mei's parents had taken to using that as an excuse to keep her out of the way of their guests. Li Mei muttered to herself, "It's always about the guests."_

_She stared at herself in the mirror. "Wow... I'm so beautiful I scare even myself." If her maid or anyone else had heard that, they would have scolded her, or sweatdropped. But Li Mei was a proud child by nature. She took pride in her schoolwork, her looks, and her family. The Xu family had a very good reputation in those parts of China._

_A cluttering sound was heard at the window. She whipped around to meet eyes with a man she thought she would never meet again..._

_"Chi."_

_"Come here, Li Mei." Li Mei refused to move. An abrupt force suddenly forced Li Mei to the window. "But how-?"_

_Chi grinned. In one of his hands was a sharp rock. "No... you wouldn't..." Li Mei gasped as she remembered saying those words two years earlier, when Chi had abandoned her..._

_"Of course I would." He laughed maliciously, and without warning, drove the rock into Li Mei's eyes._

_End of Flashback_

Li Mei shuddered, recalling the feeling of drowning into blackness, as little by little her sight was lost. She had tried, believe me, to struggle and break free, but somehow a force, probably conducted by Chi, had held her in place as she screamed for help.

She looked out of the window of her new home in Tokyo. True, she couldn't see, but she could at least hear the wind and the birds. Li Mei had a sort of passion for the wind.

"Yo."

She frantically shook her head back and forth, trying to find the location of the voice.

"Hi, Li Mei! I'm Yoh Asakura, your next-door neighbor and classmate."

_'Never mind, it's just one of those boys.'_

"Wanna come over to our inn?"

_'There's nothing better to do...'_

"All right then, I'll be out soon."

On the way out she felt around and grabbed a cane, which she used to walking around so she wouldn't bump into things. She emerged outside on the sidewalk, and felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Yoh, is that you?"

"Mhm. Come on, I'll lead you to our onsen."

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Pirika wrapped a bandage around Horohoro's broken leg and sobbed. "Big brother, how did you get so... INJURED?"

Horohoro exchanged a secret glance with Ren, who's ears were currently red with smoke.

"Aw, it was nothing that your one-and-only Horohoro Usui couldn't handle!" Horohoro puffed out his chest.

"BIG BROTHER!" Pirika wailed loudly.

_Ding-dong._

"I'll get it." Ren got up and strutted over to the door, only to be slapped aside by Anna.

"Funbari Hot Springs, how may I help you?" Anna opened the door. "Yoh? Who's this?"

Yoh stared at his shoes sheepishly. "She's this girl at our school, she's new, and she lives next door. I thought she might want to come over..."

Anna looked Li Mei over. "I've heard of you. You're blind, aren't you? Your father's famous around here."

Li Mei winced. "Yes, Anna-san, I've heard of you too. You've quite a... er... reputation around here -"

"Well that's good. Nice to know Yoh's going around saying wonderful things about me."

" - as the Ice Queen."

A deathly silence hovered around the room.

**_SLAP._**

"O... my rear end... ow..."

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"This is Lyserg, Ren (I think you know him already), Horohoro, Chocolove, -"

"Chocolovely!"

Hao shot chocolove an odd look through a crack in the closet where he was currently being locked up. No one seemed to notice.

"Er. Right. And Anna, Tamao, and Hao." Yoh grinned while everyone looked at him, mouths agape.

Horohoro gave Yoh a stupid smile. "You didn't just say Hao, did you? Of course not!"

"Of course I did! He's right there - WHAT?!?!? HAO?!?!?!"

Hao had finally emerged from the closet, with Spirit of Fire behind him (Horohoro: Wow, that thing actually fits inside the house?), a pot in one hand.

"Yo. Anyone up for green tea?"

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"Nice to meet you."

Hao extended a hand to Li Mei, who accepted it.

"Nice to meet you too... I think." Hao quaked visibly under the handshake.

"Woah, talk about a macho chick." Horohoro whistled.

"Ugh... will you QUIT commenting on everything you see?"

"Right. Ok. Why am I listening to Ren again?"

"Why am I listening to a hen again?"

"CHOCOLOVE! MEET MY KWAN DAO!"

"Oops."

Yoh looked bored. "We're all shamans, Li Mei. That means we have the power to fight with spirits."

_'Should I tell them? Ah well, no harm done, right Li Mei?"_

"Er... I'm a shaman too, except my powers are a bit different from average shamans."

"EXCUSE ME? AVERAGE?"

"No Ren, I don't mean it that way... I mean, NORMAL shamans."

"Oh. Whatever."

"If you're a shaman, where's your main spirit?" Lyserg inquired.

"Right here. All right, Akiko, come on out!"

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What will Li Mei's spirit look like? Since she's blind, how will she fight as a shaman? Find out next time, on "You Are My Destiny: That Is Why I Love You"! By the way, if you have time, please read my other fanfic, Shaman Idol! It's a comedy, just to let you know. XD R AND R!


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